Percival Kofi Akpaloo, Election 2020 Presidential Candidate of the LPG
The Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) said the government should place a premium on educating lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) as part of a broader scheme to deal with the issues instead of passing a law to punish those who practice it.
Mr Percival Kofi Akpaloo, the Election 2020 Presidential Candidate of the LPG, explained that some people got into the act due to poverty and ignorance because someone introduced them to it by giving them some small money.
He said some of those behaviours may start from the boarding schools where “the person calls you his or her friend and starts giving you gifts and before you realize he or she starts touching you and you are introduced to the act.”
Mr Akpaloo said this in Tema on the sidelines of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and Tema Motor Transport and Traffic Department(MTTD) Road Crashes Prevention Campaign platform.
He said the conditions at the prisons also contributed to the issue as it served as a nurturing ground for enticing the young ones into LGBTQI+ practice.
Mr Akpaloo said, “It is dangerous when parents do not discuss sexual issues with their children and help them to manage these peculiar situations should someone approach them with sexual advances.”
He suggested that children must be made aware of sexual issues as early as six years and be able to open up to their parents in order not for others to take advantage of them.
“If the country cut down on prison sentencing of some minor crimes, which increases the number of people going to prisons, it may help reduce people from getting into LGBTQI act,” Mr Akpaloo said.
“As a leader of a liberal party, I believe everyone’s fundamental human rights must be respected and, therefore, I’m against the portion of the bill suggesting a jail term for people advocating and exhibiting the LGBTQI+ act.”
“I believe there should be broad-based dialogue on the matter and one’s belief should not be imposed on the other.”